


what's heard in the silence

by IsleofSolitude



Category: Cassandra Palmer Series - Karen Chance
Genre: Gen, pre ride the storm, rhea is a good friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-06-29 18:16:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15734802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IsleofSolitude/pseuds/IsleofSolitude
Summary: Things change when the Warmage comes back.Rhea POV, written pre-Ride the Storm. Orginally published on tumblr, I've cleaned it up some.





	what's heard in the silence

Rhea had never met Warmage Pritkin before; she had never been allowed to meet any of the Circle really minus special occasions, and warmages rarely had the opportunity--or desire--to socialize at those events.  
She had heard of him, her mother spoke his name once while they ate supper and discussed their days. “And then that lad Pritkin came through the wall the way he does and gave us a chance to get to safety” but no more details followed, and they had moved on to other topics and dessert.  
Then she had begun staying with Lady Cassandra--no, she had been staying with Cassie--and she heard his name a lot.  
One vamp asks another “What was the name of that beer the crazy British dude used to bring us?”  
A vampire with a scar across his neck scratches it absently as he complains about the mages who reinforce the wards, saying “the other one would have been done by now.”  
One proudly shows off a trick shot that “sarcastic mage” taught him.  
And Marco watches Cassie worriedly and whispers under his breath that the “damn mage needs to get his ass back here.”  
___  
And then one day she is making herself chocolate milk and the vamps start shouting because of the giant wind from nowhere, and Cassie appears on the edge of the pool table, immediately rolling off and falling upon the floor. She’s missing a shoe and her showing sock is encrusted with something that looks worse than mud; she has green and red sticky substances on all over her shoulders and chest but she is grinning up at the ceiling and laughing.  
No, not at the ceiling.There’s an equally disheveled man who actually landed on the billiards table, who seems to not even notice that the 8 ball was wedged under his knee because he was leaning over the edge, eyes focused on the woman on the floor, matching her grin as they stare at each other, eyes shining bright.  
Rhea drinks her milk, because she has no idea what is going on.  
___  
Rhea is not used to the breakneck speed at which life happens in Vegas, but she feels like the next few hours are hectic even for Cassie’s life. Cassie and the man are surrounded by vamps, and Marco is shouting as he pushes his way through, then Cassie, the man, and Marco whisk their way to the bedroom, while the vamps mill around and examine the damage caused.  
Rhea tries to force her way through, but nobody is listening to her until Rico clears her a path to the door. Opening the door for her with a grin, he then takes up position beside it while she slips in. He snagged her chocolate milk and smirks as he guzzles it down.  
She missed the beginning of the conversation, but it apparently made Marco stand across from Cassie with his arms crossed and a scowl deepening his face. Cassie has her hands on her hips and is staring at Marco with her patented “I don’t care” face. The man--no, the mage, Rhea realizes as she gets a better look at him--leans against the edge of the bed near Cassie. He is the only one who acknowledges her presence, his eyes scanning over her briefly before returning to Cassie.  
With a sigh, Cassie lets her hands fall. “I don’t know what you want me to say Marco. I really don’t.” She lets herself sit down hard on the bed, shoulders slumping down and hair sticking to the goop. “I’m exhausted.” Rhea sits down beside her and takes her hand, hoping to provide a boost. It must work, Cassie squeezes her hand and gives her a smile. Then the blonde’s focus shifts to the man, who quirks an eyebrow at her, and she sits up straighter and looks back at Marco.  
“If he wants to see me that badly, then he can make an appointment,” The Pythia says.  
Rhea doesn’t think it’s possible, but Marco’s scowl deepens, and Rhea can feel herself tense, ready to leap into the argument. But then his lips twitch and he rolls his eyes, backing down. “Whatever you say, babe.” He then surprises them all and claps the mage on the shoulder, uncaring of the mess. “Never thought I’d say this, but welcome back.” With that, he leaves.  
Cassie groans and flops back onto the bed. “Well, that was better than I hoped.” Then she sniffs her shirt. “However, this is definitely worse than I hoped.”  
The man chuckles and pushes off the bed. “You should probably get that taken care of.” He starts heading towards the door and Cassie jumps up.  
“Where are you going?” There’s the slightest hint of panic under the question, and the man pauses, then slowly touches her hand, just the slightest brush of his fingers against hers.  
“My room. I need to get cleaned up too, and take inventory.” The man’s lips quirk up, and eyes her hand consideringly, but then he squeezes it. “Won’t take long. You could do with a shower yourself. Not sufficiently chilled, probably, would work best.”  
Cassie smacks him in the face with a pillow, and Rhea feels her mouth drop.  
___  
Rhea had helped a grateful and quiet Cassie get her bath going, taking her clothes to be laundered and changing the now icky seats..  
Figuring Cassie would be hungry when she was done, Rhea set to work in the kitchen. Spaghetti was relatively healthy and fast, and she might get Cassie to accept broccoli if she smothered it with some cheese. She could sneak some peas into the middle of the plate and maybe Cassie wouldn’t care since it she was so hungry.  
She was finishing up everything, ignoring that the background chatter had changed after the sound of a door until a voice from the edge of the tiny kitchen asked “What are you making?”  
Proud that she had managed not to jump or spill the food, she turned quickly and came face to face with the man Cassie had brought back. He was cleaned up, and she recognized the standard Circle issued leather jacket and began to have a dawning awareness of who this was. He looked over the food, and she thought maybe his expression when he was done was approval, but all she knew for sure was that it was mild and blank.  
And then Cassie came toddling out. “I knew I smelt food!” She pushed the mage out of the way with a forceful “Move!”, ignoring his mild grumbling, and came closer to Rhea. “Oh this looks so good Rhea.” Rhea smiled and offered her a plate--peas were hidden inside the spaghetti--and then made herself a plate. As Cassie sat down to inhale, Rhea hesitated and offered Pritkin the other plate, and he looked surprised for a second but then said “Thank you” and sat down next to Cassie. Grabbing a third plate to join them, Rhea didn’t know what to make of the fact that his face was the furthest thing from mild or blank as he looked at Cassie.  
Later, after Cassie had bit into the hidden vegetables and began complaining while giving Rhea a look of utter betrayal, Pritkin reached over and plopped some of the cheese from his plate onto her broccoli. “A few vegetables will hardly hurt you, Cassie.” She pouted at him but cleared her plate.  
Rhea barely hid her smile.  
___  
The next day Jonas tried to barge in the way he did, and the vamps and accompanying mages had the usual staredown, and Rhea thought Cassie was about to pull her hair out in frustration from the way Jonas kept talking over her. But then a voice cut through over Jonas’s.  
“What is going on here?” And it was loud, yes, but more importantly, it was pissed off.  
And then everyone shut up as Jonas and Cassie both looked at Pritkin standing in the doorway. His eyes were glinting and his jaw clenched as he stared at Jonas and made his way to stand behind Cassie. For her part, Cassie straightened and her shoulders relaxed, and she glared at Jonas.  
“Jonas. Seriously. If you have anything to say, we can talk later. I have things to do. Get them out of here and actually make an appointment next time.” There was a note of finality in her voice, and her eyes were ice cold.  
Jonas stared at her as though he had never her before, but Rhea had. This was determined, not to be ignored Cassie, and as Jonas left with a final blustering monologue, Rhea ignored him to watch as Cassie approached Pritkin, and while Cassie’s face was hidden from her, Pritkin himself wore a smile and a look of pride. They started talking in low voices, and interspersed with Cassie’s laughter.  
___  
Cassie had woken her up at the crack of dawn, worry throughout her face, and they had prepped the entire suite for this meeting. They cleaned and arranged and shopped until Cassie finally had to get ready.  
Pritkin showed up then, and double checked the wards he had put in last night. They waited at the window, neither one up for small talk, until she came out, dressed in a simple but fancy dress, and her hair loose around her face. She looked wonderful, except for the pale of her face. “I don’t think I can do this,” she said as she joined them at the window.  
Pritkin bumped her shoulder gently with his. “Yes, you can.” Cassie smiled, and then looked at Rhea, who nodded. “Yes, you can. You’re strong, Cassie.”  
And as they stood there, Rhea watched their reflections as Cassie’s and Pritkin’s fingers intertwined, and the way Cassie breathed easier.  
___  
Rhea knew one thing about the Vampire Senate, and that it was not happy to play by any rules but theirs.  
So the fact that Senator Basarab, negotiator extraordinaire and technically husband to the Pythia, had needed to make an appointment to speak to Cassie had already made the situation awkward.  
He sat on the couch across from Cassie looking completely at ease, but Rhea could just tell he wasn’t happy. And she knew for a fact that Cassie, sitting in a plush wingchair as though there was a string stretching her back as tight as it could, was nervous. She stood behind Cassie and to the left. Pritkin was on her right, and further back, leaning against the wall and studiously looking out the window. Most of the vampire guards had been dismissed, but Marco and Rico stayed. Other than greetings, no words had been exchanged.  
“Senator--” Cassie began.  
Mircea raised an eyebrow and sat forward. “Pardon?” Rhea caught a glimpse of Marco closing his eyes, but Rico caught hers and waggled his at her.  
Cassie took a deep breath. “I have considered your proposal, and--”  
“...Considered my proposal?” Mircea’s voice was silky and hairs stood up on the back of Rhea’s neck.  
“--And I have--” Cassie’s voice raised.  
“Since when do you call me Senator?”  
“--Come to the conclusion that--”  
“Cassie, what is going on!” Mircea stood up in one smooth movement, frustration written all over his face.  
Taking a deep breath, hands clenched tightly in her lap, Cassie struggled with keeping her voice calm. “Senator, please sit down.”  
Mircea just stared at her. “No, Cassie, I--”  
“She asked you to sit down!” A voice snapped, and it wasn’t until one pythia and three vampires had their eyes focused on her that Rhea realized she was the one who had snapped at a master vampire. Averting her eyes back to the ground, she amended, “Please.”  
Mircea sat slowly, eyes narrowed as he looked at Rhea, then at Pritkin who met his stare with a blank but intense expression, and then finally at Cassie. “May I speak to you in private, Pythia?” there was a hint of anger in how he said the title, and Rhea wanted to shout again but she looked at Cassie.  
Cassie’s hands tightened on her lap, and she took a deep breath before looking back at Mircea. “Anything you want to say to me, you can say in front of the Pythian court.”  
If he hadn’t been a master diplomat for centuries, Mircea’s jaw might have dropped. As it was, he could barely control his tone as he repeated “The Pythian court?”  
Cassie nodded, and gestured to Rhea. “My head acolyte.” She gestured to Pritkin. “My bodyguard...and trusted advisor.” Marco turned his head upwards, and even Rico grimaced.  
Mircea was silent.  
“Dulceata, what are you doing?”  
Rhea could hear Cassie’s anger in the way she breathed in, the way her hands clenched, and the way she sat up. “I am enforcing our agreement, Mircea.” Her eyes glittered. “You aren’t the only one to have boundaries, and I expect them to be respected from this point on, that’s what I’m doing here.”  
Mircea opened his mouth, but Cassie rushed on, urgent to finish the speech she had spent days practicing and perfecting.  
“Senator, I have considered your request, and it is denied. I will continue to assist you in other endeavors in this war, but I expect my stance on this issue to be remembered. I wish you a safe trip back to the council.”  
Mircea stared at her.  
“Do you have any other official business to discuss?” At the slow, incredulous shake of his head, Cassie inclined her head. “Thank you for meeting with us today. Would you like Rhea to escort you out, or do you remember the way?”  
For a second Rhea didn’t think Mircea was going to move, but he finally did, in a smooth, quiet way that Rhea could tell meant he was beyond furious. Rico and Marco moved out the door behind him, and it clicked shut.  
Cassie waited several minutes, until Billy Joe floated back in, commenting that Marco and Rico were down the hall, but Mircea was leaving. And then Cassie collapsed into herself, dress wrinkling and threatening to rip as sobs were forced out from her tiny frame. Rhea moved to her, but despite being further way, Pritkin made it to her first, kneeling in front of her and gathering her into his arms, murmuring softly as he stroked her hair. She clung to his shirt and burrowed into his neck, cries shaking her.  
Rhea quietly slipped into the hall, heart breaking right beside her friend’s.  
___  
Rhea would never dare claim to know Cassie well. She only knew Cassie for a few weeks before Pritkin came into the picture, and the war got worse, and everything she knew went up in flames and blood and pain.  
But Rhea did know sorrow, and she knew happiness, and when she first met Cassie she was drowning in sorrow. She was drowning until her lifeline, in the form of a manic, coffee fueled warmage who watched her back no matter what, was brought back to her.  
And then things changed, because Cassie may not be swimming in happiness, but she definitely had moments of it. Though Rhea didn’t know how much of it could be attributed to Pritkin, the way Cassie shone in his presence had her some pretty good estimates.  
Things changed when the warmage came back. They got better.


End file.
